When Director was being overtaken by Flash, you could see the signs by what they were teaching at local colleges, what jobs were hiring for, and activity centers online based more around Flash’ growth vs. Director. The same happened with Flex; Macromedia employee’s typically involved on the Flashcoders email list started to go quiet and a significant amount of new blood, and old, popped up on the Flexcoders email list. Product strategies favored new features for the Flex component set and not Flash.
Blog
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Job: Python Software Engineer
VIAAS is seeking a Python Software Engineer. The engineer will be a member of a small, dynamic development team. This is a challenging position that requires in-depth knowledge of LAMP technologies, and a seasoned grasp of how to create, communicate about, and design for scalability of Web 2.0 technologies.The engineer needs to be comfortable working in a fluid environment, handling a variety of assignments and technologies. We have a very sharp, passionate, and fast-moving development team that prides itself on technical excellence and innovation. People who are used to staid corporate environments or a heads-down focus on one thing will not be happy here; people who thrive on learning new technologies, defining their jobs, and having a direct contribution to the success of the business will love it here.
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Error Handling in ActionScript 3: Don’t Make Grenades (or how to not crash Safari)
Preface
At the latest WWDC it was announced that the #1 reason Safari crashes for users is because of Flash, hence the new plug-in sequestering (i.e. if Flash blows up real good, it’ll do so in a way that won’t negatively affect the browser). I agree. If you’ve ever surfed the web using the debug Flash Player, Safari 3 and 4 explode all the time. I don’t know the true cause, but I do know when it’ll happen most often: when you get an error dialogue. These are shown only if you have the debug Flash Player installed, and an error that wasn’t “caught” happens. Sometimes hitting the “Continue” button vs. the “Dismiss All” button will work… but not always… BOOM! Â Thank God for History > Reopen All Windows from Last Session. Â Here’s how you can help prevent Flash’s bad name from getting worse (that and until Adobe makes it more stable).
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Flash Command: Convert to Symbol and Distribute to Layers
Josh was bitching on Twitter the other day about how if you select multiple objects in Flash and choose Convert to Symbol, it puts them all on the same layer, regardless of where they were before. Others agreed that it is frustrating. I know where he’s coming from doing production art, so I built this quick Command to do just that. If you save in your Commands folder, and re-boot Flash, you can re-map your F8 key to use this Command instead of the regular Convert to Symbol Command.